Island



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. W. MILLER. CLOTH PRESSING MAGHIKB.

Patented-May 26, 1 8 96.

Wanda-m AN DREW BAHAMMJHOYO-Lrmo WASHINGTON D G (No Model.) 3SheetsSheet 2.

G. w. MILLER.

. CLOTH PRESSING MACHINE.

No. 560,733. Patented May 26, 1896.

AN DREW F. GRAHAM PNGYO-LITHO wAsmNsTox D C rrEn STATES j' PATENTQFFICE.

GEORGE NV. MILLER, WVOONSOCKET,.RHODE ISLAND.

CLOTH-PRESSING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,733, dated May 26,1896.

Application filed June 15, 1894.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, G ORGE W. MILLER, a citizen of theUnited States,residing at Woonsocket, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements inCloth-Pressing Machines, of which the following is a speci fication.

My invention relates to apparatus for press ing cloth; and my inventionconsists in certain improvements in the details of construction of suchapparatus, as fully set forth hereinafter and as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation ofsufficient of a cloth-pressing machine to illustrate my invention. Fig.2 is a front elevation showing some of the parts. Figs. 3, 4., and 5 areenlarged details showing modified devices for connecting the end of theflexible bed with the bed-stretching devices. Fig. 6 is a side View,partly in section; and Fig. 7 is aplan view showing the devices forconnecting the end of the flexible bed shown in Fig. 1.

The frame of the machine and many of the details are of any suitableconstruction and arrangement and need not be referred to, as myinvention consists in, improvements in machines which in many respectsare of ordi nary construction.

The presser-bed A is in the form of a flexible sheet 0., of steel,copper, brass, composition, or other material. With thispresserbed areemployed means for supporting it and for causing itto be drawn aroundthe cylinder (1 under more or less tension to exert a greater or lesspressure upon the cloth which travels between the presser-bed and thecylinder. -As shown, the presser-bed is of copper, which should be aboutone-eighth of an -inch thick, and one edge 2 is curved to form SerialNo. 514,684. (No model.)

ed sockets to receive the ends of a right-andleft screw 7 ,and thesescrews may be turn ed so as to secure a uniform tension upon the bedwhen the shaft is rocked to any position; but I find that it isunnecessary to unite all the sections by right and left hand screws, andin i Fig. 7 I have shown three such screws, one at each end of the bedand one at the middle, and intervening I use single screws 7.

Instead of the construction above set forth I may use the constructionshown in- Figs. 3 and 4:, where there is a continuous rib o, having uponit a series of enlargements 6 near the upper edge and a rounded loweredge it,

around which the end of the band Ais lapped and then secured by screws8.

The central enlargement e, as well as the end enlargements, is recessedto receive a block 10, which partly fills the recess and which has aslot :20, containingamovable bearing 12, with a rounded face fitted to across rod15, extending between two of the arms 6 6 of the shaft D, and astrap 9 extends around the enlargement e and around the block 10 andholds the latter in place. A set-screw 13 adjusts the bearing 12. Eachof the other enlargements is arranged, as shown in Fig. 5, with a slotas, bearing 12, and set-screw 13, the head of which extends into a sloty, the strap and block being omitted.

The bed, as usual, has an inside lining 19 of thin steel or some othermaterial which can be removed in case it is injured by abrasion orotherwise. It is required that the pressure shall be applied or takenoff at any time, and this must be .done instantly to avoid injury to thegoods. It is more frequently required that the pressure shall beput onor removed when the machine is at rest. I therefore provide. meanswhereby there is a constant source of power'that may be employed forapplying or removing the pressure whether the machine is in operation orat rest. For instance, I mount a pulley 20 upon a drivingshaft 22, saidpulley being constantly rotated by a beltextending from an engine. (Notdriving-shaft there is a clutch device H of any suitable character,whereby the pulley may be clutched to the shaft, or whereby it may beallowed to run loosely thereon.

Alongside of the pulley 20 is another pulley 21, mounted on the shaft22, and which serves to operate the devices for applying pressure to orremoving it from the bed. The intermediate devices may be of anysuitable character. As shown, there is a vertical shaft 25 turning inbearings at the side of the frame of the machine which gears throughbeveled gears 26 with the pulley 21, so as to be driven thereby. Theupper end of this shaft carries a bevel-wheel 28, which may be put intogear with a shaft 30 to turn it in either direction. Thus afriction-sleeve 31, carrying gears 31 31 at opposite sides and adaptedto slide on the shaft 30 and to turn therewith, can be shifted to oneposition to gear with one side of the bevel-wheel 28 and to anotherposition to gear with the opposite side, or it may occupy anintermediate position, so as to be entirely out of gearwith the wheel28. The sleeve 31 may be shifted in any suitable manneras, for instance,by means of a yoke 32, having pins extending into an annular groove inthe said sleeve, the yoke being connected to a shaft 35, which may beshifted by a hand-lever or any other device in any suitable manner. Theshaft 30 has worms 36 gearing with worm-wheels 37 upon vertical shafts38, carrying worms 39 gearing with worm-sectors 40, attached to therock-shaft D. WVhen the sleeve 31 is shifted to one position, the shaft30 is turned in one direction and the rock-shaft D is caused to wrap theflexible bed around the cylinder under powerful tension, and when thesleeve 31 is shifted to the other position the shaft D is rocked in thereverse direction and the pressure of the flexible bed upon the cylinderor cloth is removed, these operations being eifected each in a fewmoments. If it is desired simply to start the machine, thefrictionclutch of the pulley20 is so applied that the shaft 22 will berotated. If, as is frequently the case, it is desired to put on or takeoff the pressure while the machine is stationary, the belt is shiftedonto the pulley 21, the latter will be driven to drive the shaft 25, andthe pressure maybe applied or removed by properly adjusting the sleeve31. The same operation may be accomplished when the machineis running byshifting the driving-belt so that a porti0n-saya half-inchof the beltwill bear on the pulley 21.

The presser-bed may be heated in any suitable way; but I prefer,however, to use one or more cast-iron jackets f, hollow and suppliedwith steam or hot air as usual when required. The jacket may extend toany desired extent around the cylinder; but I have found that it issufficient if it extends only for a part of the distance, especially asin many instances no heating at all is required. There is greatadvantagein having the space A between the ends of the flexible bed atone side of the cylinder, as shown, because it is then possible toexamine the goods at all times that they are being operated upon and thegoods can be more readily got at, but more especially for the purpose ofhaving a full view of the base part of the cylinder to detect anysubstance that may and does collect on face of the cylinder.

Another feature of the machine has for its object to vary the stretchingaction of the stretcher. This may be effected by varying the extent towhich the cloth is carried around the stretcher T by moving theguide-roll 43 so as to wrap the cloth to a greater or less extent aroundthe stretcher and thereby vary the stretching action of the roll on thecloth. As shown, the stretcher T has a shaft extending through verticalopenings 0) in the side frame in which are bearings adjustable by screws51 to cause the cloth to become wrapped around the stretcher to agreater or less extent, thereby varying the tension upon the cloth. Theguide-101143 is so arranged in respect to the stretcher and the bearing2 that when the roll 43 is moved toward the stretcher the cloth willencircle a greater portion of the stretcher, while when it is carriedaway from it there is less cloth bearing on the stretcher and thestretching action is proportionately diminished.

In pressing cloth it very frequently happens that there are particles ofmetal which in some way get connected to the cloth, as chips or piecesof nails, or the girls who sew the cloth may leave needles in the cloth.If these particles get between the pressing-faces, they cut them andseriously injure the machine. To avoid any difficulty from this source Icombine with the machine a broken electrical circuit of such a characterthat it will be completed by the contact of any of the said metallicparticles. Thus there may be two parallel rods or bars 1" r, each in acircuit broken between the bars, and so arranged that a piece of metalcarried with the cloth will simultaneously make contact with both barsand complete the circuit and sound an alarm S. It will be evident thatvarious other arrangements may be adopted for completing a circuit bymetallic particles carried by the cloth.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement ofparts shown, I claim as my invention- 1. In a cloth-pressing machine,the combination with the cylinder, a flexible metal bed extending partlyaround the cylinder, a support for one end of the bed, a rock-shaft andconnection between the rock shaft and the other end of the bed,comprising two sections connected to the rock-shaft and one end of thebed respectively and a right and left hand screw intermediate of thesections, substantially as described.

2. In a cloth-pressing machine, the combination with the cylinder, aflexible bed extending partly around the cylinder, a support for one endof the bed, a rock-shaft, sectional connections between the rock-shaftand the other end of the bed, and adjusting devices intermediate thesections of said connection, substantially as described.

3. In a cloth-pressing machine, the combination with a cylinder, of apressure-bed partially surrounding said cylinder, a drivingshaft, adriving-pulley on said shaft, a clutch between the driving-pulley andthe drivingshaft, a second pulley mounted on the drivin g-shaftconnections between said pulley and the pressure-bed, and means foractuating either of the pulleys, substantially as described.

4. In a cloth-pressing machine, the combination of a driving-shaft 22,pulleys 20, 21, mounted thereon, shaft 25, and gears connecting it withthe shaft 22, a bevel-whee128 carried by the shaft 25, a doublegear-sleeve 31 adjustable with respect to the wheel 28, the shaft 30upon which the gear-sleeve is adapted to slide and rotate, a press-bedand connections between the press-bed and the shaft 30, substantially asdescribed. 5. In a cloth-pressing machine, the combination with drivingmechanism, and means for throwing it into and out of operation, of ashaft, a press-bed and gearing intermediate the shaft and press-bed, andmeans intermediate the driving mechanism and the shaft for rotating thelatter in either direction, substantially as described.

6. In a cloth-pressing machine, the combi- 3 5 nation witha shaft 30, ofa double gear-sleeve adjustable thereon, a gear 28, driving mechanismfor operating the same,means for throwing said mechanism into and out ofoperation,

a press-bed, and connections between the 4 cloth make contact with bothbars andclose 50 the circuit, substantially as described.

8. The combination with the supports for the cloth, of an'electriccircuit, an alarm device in said circuit, and two rods or bars in closeproximity to each other, each forming 55 a terminal of the electricalcircuit, said bars being arranged in the path of movement of the clothto make contact therewith whereby particles of metal in the cloth makecontact with both bars and close the circuit, substan 6o tially asdescribed.

, In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE W. MILLER,

Witnesses;

THOMAS Z. LEE, WILLIAM TITTER.

